The present invention generally relates to archery, and more particularly to a mechanism for providing resiliently biased deflection for an arrow support arm of an archery arrow rest.
Archery bows, such as compound bows, conventionally possess a handle riser section generally where an archer grasps the bow with one of the archer""s hands. The handle riser section includes a window section through which an arrow extends when the arrow is in a xe2x80x9cready-to-draw-and-fire positionxe2x80x9d, when the arrow is drawn rearwardly as the bowstring is drawn, and momentarily after release of the bowstring and during the initial firing of the arrow.
When an arrow is shot and released, the arrow both bends and is thrust downwardly in a porpoising style. A number of arrow rests have been designed to help absorb any downward flexing or thrust of the arrow in order to improve arrow flight accuracy. Many of these arrow rests include a launcher arm that is rotatably mounted to the bow and which extends upwardly and forwardly in the window. One example of a launcher arm is a single piece of thin metal, plastic, or TEFLON(copyright) having a notched upper end for cradling the shaft of the arrow. Another type of launcher arm includes a pair of spaced prongs, the upper tips of which are adapted to receive and support the shaft of the arrow therebetween. The launcher arms are designed to provide free clearance of the arrow vanes or feathers when the arrow is shot and released.
Sometimes a launcher arm is fashioned so that the launcher arm itself resiliently deflects when the arrow is shot, and sometimes a rigid launcher arm is fixedly mounted on a rotatable shaft which is subject to a spring bias. The latter types of systems include some mechanism for biasing the launcher arm to an upper or highest position, as well as a limit or stop mechanism for preventing the shaft from rotating beyond a particular arcuate position. With such limit mechanisms, when an arrow is shot, the downward flexing or thrust of the arrow forces the launcher arm downwardly, which rotates the shaft against the spring bias, and when the arrow ceases to flex or thrust downwardly onto the launcher arm, the spring bias rotates the shaft and the launcher arm back to a particular stop position where the launcher arm has an upper or highest position. In more sophisticated launcher arm systems, the degree of spring bias may be selectively adjusted, and the stop position may be selectively adjusted.
The launcher arm systems previously described have generally been known as xe2x80x9carrow restsxe2x80x9d. Early, simple arrow rests might comprise simply a finger or a launcher arm that is screwed, glued or otherwise affixed to the bow in the region of the window section. Later, more sophisticated arrow rests might include spring biasing mechanisms as well as mechanisms to adjust the forward/rearward, upward/downward, and left/right position of the finger or launcher arm in the window section of the bow.
The most common commercially available arrow rests include a rotatable shaft that is generally horizontally positioned in the window section of the bow with a launcher arm generally radially extending from one end of the rotatable shaft. A variety of launcher arms may be mounted on the rotatable shaft for rotation therewith. Usually, the launcher arm is removably attached to an end of the rotatable shaft. Also, manufacturers of arrow rests often use a standard sized rotatable shaft for a variety of arrow rests.
The present invention generally relates to a spring loaded capsule that accepts a rotatable shaft upon which a launcher arm or other type of arrow support mechanism is mounted. The capsule includes a spring for exerting a biasing force against the rotatable shaft and includes a mechanism for limiting the rotation of the shaft in response to the spring bias. The capsule may be used interchangeably with a variety of similarly sized shafts and a variety of launcher arms.